HAVANA (AP) — According to her support team, American swimmer Diana Nyad has been doing the backstroke, as she continues her latest effort to swim from Cuba to Florida.
She's swimming that way so that the part of her head that is covered by a cap is in front -- in hopes of reducing contact with jellyfish. And a tweet from a team member says "the backstroke is working!" The team reports that she is steadily stroking onward.
Still, Nyad has endured several jellyfish stings, as she tries to become the first person to make the swim without a wetsuit or a shark cage. She had hoped that a custom-made swimsuit would protect her from the stings. It covers her from head to toe, with a pantyhose face and holes only for the eyes, nose and mouth.
An apparatus that is following her in the water creates a faint electric field that is designed to repel most sharks.
Nyad, who is a week shy of her 63rd birthday, jumped into the warm waters near Havana yesterday in her latest bid to make the crossing. Last summer, an asthma attack and then jellyfish stings forced her to abandon two attempts.
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065-r-09-(Sound of endurance swimmer Diana Nyad (NY'-ad), jumping into the water at Hemingway Marina to start her venture)--Sound of endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, jumping into the water at Hemingway Marina to start her venture. (19 Aug 2012)
<<CUT *065 (08/19/12)>> 00:09
064-r-06-(Sound of bugle being blown, to signify the start of Diana Nyad's (NY'-adz) attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida)-"(faint cheers fade)"-Sound of bugle being blown, to signify the start of Diana Nyad's attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. (19 Aug 2012)
<<CUT *064 (08/19/12)>> 00:06 "(faint cheers fade)"
069-a-18-(Diana Nyad (NY'-ad), endurance swimmer, in interview provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau)-"to my skin"-Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad says this time she's well protected against jellyfish with a special body-suit. (19 Aug 2012)
<<CUT *069 (08/19/12)>> 00:18 "to my skin"
APPHOTO FLAN102: In this photo released by Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad gets set to jump into the water in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, to start a more-than-100-mile trip across the Florida Straits to the Florida Keys. Nyad, who turns 63 on Aug. 22, is trying to be the first swimmer to cross the Straits without a shark cage. (AP Photo/ Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli) (18 Aug 2012)
<<APPHOTO FLAN102 (08/18/12)>>
APPHOTO FLAN103: In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad receives hydration and advice from her support team off Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, during the first night of a 100-mile-plus swim across the Florida Straits to the Florida Keys. Nyad, who turns 63 on Aug. 22, is trying to be the first swimmer to cross the Straits without a shark cage. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad, via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli) (18 Aug 2012)
<<APPHOTO FLAN103 (08/18/12)>>
APPHOTO FLAN104: In this photo provided by Diana Nyad, via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Diana Nyad takes a break after reportedly being stung by a jellyfish Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, off Havana, Cuba. Nyad, who turns 63 Aug. 22, is trying to be the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits without a shark cage. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli) (18 Aug 2012)
<<APPHOTO FLAN104 (08/18/12)>>
